Environmentally sealed cable breakout assemblies

ABSTRACT

A cable breakout assembly is provided, including a feeder cable, a breakout structure having a first end threadedly engaged with a cable nut having a single-port cable gland through which the feeder cable extends, a central conduit which houses the sections of the feeder cable passing there through, and an opposed second end threadedly engaged with a cable nut having a multi-port cable gland, whose number of ports corresponds to the number of splices of the feeder cable. A plurality of environmentally sealed, flexible conduits are provided, each having a first end that interfaces with and extends from a respective port of the multi-port gland, and a second end adapted to interface with an external device, wherein each flexible conduit houses a respective spliced section of the feeder cable therein.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.13/817,589, filed Feb. 19, 2013, which in turn is the National Stage ofInternational Application No. PCT/EP2011/054276, filed Mar. 21, 2011,which in turn claims the benefit of Provisional Application No.61/384,827, filed Sep. 21, 2010, the entireties of which areincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a cable breakout assembly remote radioheads (RRH).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Radio heads and other equipment for amplifying and transmitting signalsfrom antenna towers were traditionally positioned at the base of thetower in order to better facilitate the installation and maintenancethereof. However, there has been a problem with respect to the signallosses experienced and the power consumption involved in thisconfiguration.

So called remote radio heads (RRH) have become an important subsystem oftodays new distributed base stations. The remote radio head in generalcontains the base station's RF circuitry plusanalog-to-digital/digital-to-analog converters and up/down converters.RRHs may also have operation and management processing capabilities anda standardized optical interface to connect to the rest of the basestation. Relocating the transmission and amplification components to thetop of the tower served to reduce the signal losses and powerrequirements, however, even though the signal was run through the feedercable extending up the tower, it was also necessary to run a DC powercable up the tower in order to boost the signal power to the individualamplifiers. Also, this type of prior art system required a separatefeeder cable to be connected with the individual radio leads for eachamplifier at the top of the tower.

This construction presents problems in that a larger number of cablesare required to run up the tower, which involves a number of cablepulls, and also undesirably occupies space on the tower. This isespecially costly when one considers that the installation costs areincreased with more cables, because installers typically charge percable pull required, and the overall costs are increased because towerowners may charge by the number of cables. The added weight of numerouscables can be a drawback, as well as wind loading issues related tomultiple-cable configurations on the tower. In addition, the use of morecomponents introduces the potential for increased installation steps,and more maintenance issues associated with more connections.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to overcome the drawbacksassociated with the prior art noted above.

Accordingly, the present invention provides the ability to provide asingle power feeder cable and associated assembly that can provide powerto a number of individual amplifiers at the top of a radio (cell) tower.In addition, the invention offers the ability to exchange data with theRRH in a single cable. The construction according to the presentinvention reduces the number of cables extending up the tower and cablepulls, and reduces the number of connections required. At the top of thetower, a single feeder cable interfaces with a number of radio leads foramplifiers within an environmentally sealed container or through sealed,flexible conduits.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a cable breakoutstructure is provided. The number of breakouts is ultimately determinedby the size of the feeder cable, where a larger feeder cable can providea greater number of breakouts, as would be understood by those skilledin the art. For example, a 6-conductor feeder cable is spliced 3 times,so each splice section includes a hot, a neutral and a drain wire. Thewires of each spliced section of the feeder cable is crimped togetherwith two conductors and a drain wire of a respective radio cable atsplice crimps that are made, for example, of thin plated copper. Eachsplice/crimp section is sealed with a shrink tube (e.g. a ½ inch shrinktube) that encloses the spliced/crimped portions and extends, at eachend, over a portion of the cable jackets of the spliced feeder cable andthe radio lead cables, respectively. In that manner, six individuallysealed splice crimps are provided as an interface between one feedercable and three separate radio leads. The overall area of thesplice/crimp sections is also sealed, for example, within a shrink tubeboot, which also overlaps, at its four ends, the feeder cable jacket andthe cable jackets of the respective radio leads.

This cable breakout section is then sealed within a cable breakoutenclosure. The cable breakout enclosure is a hollow can structure havingtwo separate portions, each of which includes an open end incommunication with the space within the enclosure, and a substantiallyclosed end. The closed end of the “bottom” or can portion includes acable nut having a single cable gland, which is sealed with respect tothe opening in the closed end of the bottom portion from which itextends, and through which the feeder cable extends. The single cablegland is ultimately environmentally sealed with respect to the jacket ofthe feeder cable. The closed end of the “top” or lid portion includes,in this case (see FIGS. 1, 3 and 4), three separate cable nuts eachhaving a single-port cable gland in sealed connection therewith andextending therefrom, and through which the respective radio leads eachextend, each of which are ultimately environmentally sealed with respectto the radio lead cable jackets, the opposite ends of which areconnected to a radio pig-tail connector to facilitate a directconnection at the tower top. It should be noted that the cable nut canalso include a multi-port cable gland through which the respective radioleads extend, as shown, for example, in FIG. 5.

The two open ends of the respective portions of the cable breakoutenclosure are threaded together and sealed with a permanent bondadhesive, suitable examples of which include, but are not limited to,thread locker, adhesives, water blocks and gels. Thereby, the cablebreakout enclosure provides further environmental protection and addedmechanical stability for the cable breakout, and protects the cablebreakout from experiencing potentially harmful flexing and reducesweakening or detachment of the spliced joints, for example. Three levelsof sealing are thus provided in view of the importance of preventingmoisture and contaminants from entering the cable breakout in order toprevent shorts and broken contacts, etc., so as to improve theperformance and reliability of the cable breakout and the overall cellperformance.

The improved performance and reliability of the cable breakout assemblyaccording to the present invention is also a cost effective solution, inthat, for example, using a single feeder cable reduces installationcosts (fewer cable pulls, fewer hoist grips, ground straps and supportblocks) and tower fees (fewer cables) and, since service is needed lessoften, if at all, service and maintenance costs are reduced orprevented. In addition, the cable breakout assembly according to thisembodiment of the present invention also enables the feeder cable to besupplied on reels at longer lengths (e.g., 200+ m), and provides a “plugand play” feature for direct deployment, with no tools required, whichreduces the hardware and installation time.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the cable breakoutassembly includes a spool of feeder cable, a portion of a breakoutenclosure (can) affixed to an end portion thereof at a location beforethe feeder cable is spliced, the sealed, splice/crimped breakoutsection, which is housed within the enclosure and which interfaces withthe radio leads crimped thereto, and the radio lead extensionsprotruding from the other end of the breakout enclosure, which arefitted, for example, with connectors to enable the plug-and-playbenefits of the present invention.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, cable breakoutstructure is provided that also facilitates cable breakout from a singlefeeder cable running up the tower to multiple radio lead cablespositioned at the top. The cable breakout according to this embodimentof the present invention is hereinafter referred to as a splice puck,and provides further advantages in that the size of the breakout isreduced, crimps are eliminated, the assembly is simplified and costs canbe further reduced without sacrificing performance and reliability. Inaddition, a secure level of environmental protection is provided withoutthe need for additional shrink tubes or boots or enclosure structures.

The splice puck is a unitary structure having a central through bore andincluding three distinct portions, a threaded feeder cable side, acentre conduit portion, and a threaded cable breakout side. The outerdiameter of the threaded feeder cable side and the threaded cablebreakout side are substantially the same, whereas the centre conduitportion has a smaller outer diameter and includes four flat sides (seeFIGS. 7A and 7B), and since the outer shape of the splice puck is thatof an “H”, the shape facilitates the ability to easily and sufficientlysecure the splice puck using a pipe clamp, for example, at the top ofthe tower. Additionally, the four flat surfaces at the centre of thecentre conductor provide a necessary holding surface for use inconnection with a wrench during assembly.

The inner diameter of the threaded feeder cable side and the centralconduit portion are substantially the same, whereas the inner diameterof the cable breakout side is larger than that of the other twoaforementioned sections. The feeder cable side is adapted to threadedlyengage a single-port cable gland through which the feeder cable passes,and which is environmentally sealed about the feeder cable using thecable gland features (e.g., includes silicone compression gasket thatsecurely engages the cable jacket). The cable breakout side is adaptedto threadedly engage a multi-port cable gland through which individualflexible conduits, which are sealed with a waterproof shrink tube overthe outer surfaces thereof and which internally house the separatedcable conductor sections, extend. The multi-port cable gland isenvironmentally sealed onto the respective flexible conduits in the samemanner as noted above in connection with the environmental seal betweenthe single-port gland and the feeder cable jacket. The use of individualcable glands is also possible if such use is determined to beadvantageous for a particular application.

The ends of the separated cable sections within each of theenvironmentally protected flexible conduits respectively mate with adevice, such as an end of a high pin count Buccaneer connector, which isconnected to radio lead cables at its other end. That is to say, in thatconstruction, the Buccaneer connector serves as an interface between theseparated feeder cable sections and the respective radio lead cables.Other devices or cables that can interface with the feeder cablesections within the flexible conduits include, but are not limited toRemote Radio Heads (RRH), antennas, Remote Electronic Tilt (RET) andother suitable connectors.

According to another aspect of the second embodiment of the presentinvention, the cable breakout assembly includes a spool of feeder cable,the splice puck breakout structure affixed to an end portion thereof ata location before the feeder cable is split, and the flexible conduitsprotruding from the other end of the splice puck breakout structure,which are fitted, for example, with connectors to enable theplug-and-play benefits of the present invention.

When not using a drain wire, grounding through the tube enclosure orsplice puck would be maintained through the use of EMI/RFI cord grips.By using such cord grips, an electrical path through the outer shield ofthe cables (Feeder & Radio Leads) is completed through the cord grip tothe cable breakout structure “can” or splice puck. A full description ofthe EMI/RFI Cord Grips is given in the ContaClip website.

In one embodiment, a cable breakout assembly according to the presentinvention comprises a feeder cable adapted to be spliced or separatedinto a plurality of sections, each section including at least a hot wireand a neutral wire. A plurality of radio leads corresponding to theplurality of feeder cable sections, joined to the respective splicedsections of the feeder cable at crimps or similar means. A breakoutenclosure including a first portion having a closed end and an open endto enable access to an interior space thereof, a second portion having aclosed end and an open end to enable access to an interior spacethereof, a cable nut having a single port cable gland installed in andextending from the closed end of the first portion and through which thefeeder cable extends, and one or more cable nuts each having at least asingle-port cable gland, so that a total number of ports corresponds tothe plurality of radio leads, installed in and extending from the closedend of the second portion and through which respective ends of the radioleads extend. A plurality of first environmental sealing structuresenclosing each crimp between the spliced sections of the feeder cableand a respective radio lead, and a second environmental sealingstructure enclosing each sealed crimp and extending over a portion of acable jacket of the feeder cable just before the sealed crimps andportions of cable jackets of the respective radio leads just after thesealed crimps and defining a sealed, crimped cable breakout section. Theopen end of the first portion of the breakout enclosure is threadedlyengaged with the open end of the second portion of the breakoutenclosure and sealed with a sealant to enclose the sealed, crimped cablebreakout section therein. Furthermore, the cable breakout assembly maycomprise a feeder cable having a plurality of conductors and beingadapted to be separated into a plurality of conductor sections, abreakout structure (splice puck) having a first end threadedly engagedwith a cable nut having a single-port cable gland through which thefeeder cable extends, a central conduit which houses the sections of thefeeder cable passing there through, and an opposed second end threadedlyengaged with a cable nut having a multi-port cable gland, whose numberof ports corresponds to the number of splices of the feeder cable; and aplurality of flexible conduits, each having a first end that interfaceswith and extends from a respective port of the multi-port gland, and asecond end adapted to interface with an external device, each flexibleconduit housing a respective spliced section of the feeder cabletherein.

A preferred cable breakout assembly according to the present inventionin general comprises a breakout enclosure with a first end and a secondend. A feeder cable is attached to the first end and at least two powerfeeder pigtail subassemblies are attached to the second end. Each powerfeeder pigtail subassembly comprises an electrical connector foreseen tobe interconnected to a remote radio head. If appropriate the powerfeeder pigtail subassemblies can be hard wired to a RRH. In anembodiment, the first and the second end of the breakout enclosure arearranged opposite to each other at a distance spaced apart. Ifappropriate, the first and the second end can be arranged at an anglewith respect to each other. A first axis of the feeder cable and secondaxis of the at least one pigtail subassembly are preferably arrangedparallel to each other. Depending on the field of application, they canbe arranged at an angle with respect to each other. In one embodiment,the distance between the first axis and the second axis is within arange of 0 to 20 centimeter (cm). In a preferred embodiment, the cablebreakout assembly has a hybrid setup with at least one optical feederpigtail subassemblies, whereby the number of optical feeder pigtailsubassemblies corresponds to the number of power feeder pigtailsubassemblies.

Furthermore, a feeder cable according to the present invention comprisesat least one first empty conduit (ductwork) foreseen to receive at leastone optical fibre. The optical fibre is preferably displaceable withinand relative to the first empty conduit. If appropriate for each opticalfibre a single ductwork can be foreseen. In an embodiment, the firstempty conduit ends in a secondary breakout structure in which at leastone second empty conduit ends foreseen to receive at least one opticalfibre. The second empty conduit is preferably arranged in generalopposite to the first empty conduit with respect to the secondarybreakout structure. Alternatively or in addition the feeder cable maycomprises several first empty conduits, each directly ending in anoptical connector of an optical pigtail subassembly.

The breakout enclosure may comprise a bottom part and a top part whichare interconnected to each other, e.g. by a thread or in an othermanner. The bottom and the top part may be shaped cylindrical. Thebreakout enclosure may at least partially be filled with a castingresin.

A cable breakout assembly according to the present invention normallycomprises a hybrid cable assembly which preferably has factoryterminated fibers and an integrated shielded power cable. It becomespossible to install the cable breakout assembly by plug and playinstallation whereby—in difference to the prior art—no fieldtermination/wrapping/or other preparation is necessary.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the present invention, please refer to thedetailed description below read in connection with the accompanyingdrawings which should not be considered limiting to the inventiondescribed in the appended claims. The drawings are showing:

FIG. 1 is an exploded, perspective assembly view of a cable breakoutassembly according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the sealed splice/crimpportion of the assembly shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective assembly view of the breakout enclosureaccording to the first embodiment of the present invention, as shown inconnections with FIGS. 1-2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective assembly view of the breakout enclosureaccording to FIG. 3, as assembled;

FIG. 5 is an assembled view of a breakout assembly according to anotheraspect of the first embodiment of the present invention, wherein the topportion of the breakout enclosure is fitted with a plurality of cableglands through which the radio leads extend;

FIG. 6 is a schematic side view of the cable breakout assembly referredto as a splice puck according to the second embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 7A and 7B are cross-sectional views of the splice puck breakoutassembly shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 shows a first embodiment of a hybrid cable breakout assembly in afirst perspective view;

FIG. 9 is the hybrid cable breakout assembly according to FIG. 8 in asecond perspective view;

FIG. 10 shows Detail D according to FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 shows Detail E according to FIG. 8;

FIG. 12 shows a second embodiment of a hybrid cable breakout assembly ina perspective view;

FIG. 13 shows a third embodiment of a hybrid cable breakout assembly;

FIG. 14 shows a fourth embodiment of a cable breakout assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

When nothing else is indicated similar parts are indicated with the samereference numerals.

FIG. 1 is an exploded, perspective assembly view of a cable breakoutassembly 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.The cable breakout assembly 100 includes a feeder conductor wire 1,which is fed through a large cable gland 2 of a large cable nut 3extending from the closed end of the bottom portion 4 of the breakoutenclosure (can) 16. The conductor feeder cable 1 is spliced, crimpedwith respective radio leads and sealed with shrink tubes, as denoted bynumerals 5-9. A shrink boot 11 is fitted over the sealed splice/crimparea denoted by reference numbers 5-9. The crimped, sealed, radio leadsections are fed though three cable glands 12 of respective cable nuts13 which extend from the closed end of the top portion 10 of thebreakout enclosure (can). The respective radio leads are shrink sealedand color coded (as shown by reference numeral 14) and interface withthe power feeder pigtail subassembly at reference numeral 15, which arefitted with respective connector devices to enable plug and playconnectivity.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the sealed splice/crimpportion of the assembly shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective assembly view of the breakout enclosure 16according to the first embodiment of the present invention, as shown inconnection with FIGS. 1-2. The breakout enclosure 16 comprises a bottomportion 4 which in a mounted position is threadedly engaged with a topportion 10 along a first axis 31. In the shown embodiment the portions(tube and cap enclosure) 4, 10 of the breakout enclosure 16 are made ofaluminum (e.g. black anodized with treaded interface). The cable glandsare made of nickel plated brass with silicon inserts and seals (temp.rating −40 to 200° C., IP68 Nema 4x). While a first cable gland 2 isarranged coaxial to the first axis 31 second cable glands 12 arearranged offset to the first axis 31. The axis of the first and thesecond cable glands 2, 12 are arranged parallel to each other. FIG. 4 isa perspective assembly view of the breakout enclosure 16 according toFIG. 3, as assembled. Visible are the feeder cable/conductor 1, thebreakout enclosure 16 and three radio leads 14.

FIG. 5 is an assembled view of a breakout assembly 100 according toanother aspect of the first embodiment of the present invention, whereinthe top portion of the breakout enclosure is fitted with a cable nuthaving a multi-port cable gland through which the respective radio leadsextend. An example of a 1 to 3 cable split construction of the feederconductor wire 1 is schematically explained.

FIG. 6 is a schematic side view of a cable breakout assembly referred toas a splice puck 200 according to the second embodiment of the presentinvention, and FIGS. 7A and 7B are cross-sectional views of the splicepuck breakout assembly shown in FIG. 6. Suitable examples of materialsfor the splice puck 200 include, but are not limited to plastic,polycarbonate, nylon, aluminum, stainless steel and other suitablematerials. The open cavity of the splice puck 200 can be filled withpotting filler in a known manner, if desired, thereby eliminating thechance of environmental contamination.

The conductor cable 1 is fed through a cable nut 3 having a single portcable gland 2 and into the input end 201 of the splice puck 200. Theconductors of the cable 1 are routed through the central conduit portion202 of the splice puck 200 and into the breakout end 203 thereof, whichis interfaced with a cable nut 204 having a multi-port cable gland 205.The conductors of the cable 1 pass through the respective ports of themulti-port cable gland 205 and into respective flexible conduits 206,which are sealed with waterproof shrink tubes 207 over the surfacesthereof. The sealed, flexible conduits 206, made, for example, ofstainless steel, aluminum, copper or plastic, and having the cableconductors housed therein are respectively connected to connectordevices such as, but not limited to, Buccaneer connectors, RRH, RBT,antennas and other suitable connectors.

FIGS. 8 and 9 are showing a partially cut, perspective assembly view ofa cable breakout assembly 100 according to a further embodiment of thepresent invention. FIG. 10 is showing Detail D and FIG. 11 is showingdetail E according to FIG. 8.

The cable breakout assembly 100 includes a feeder conductor wire (feedercable) 1, which is fed through a large cable gland 2 of a large cablenut 3 extending from the closed end of the bottom portion 4 of thebreakout enclosure (can) 16. To offer a view at the inside the breakoutclosure 16 is displayed in a partially cut manner. The conductor feedercable 1 has a hybrid configuration and comprises electrical wires 20 andglass fibers 21 within a cable sheath 17. The electrical wires 20 of thefeeder cable 1 are interconnected to electrical connectors 18 viapigtail subassemblies 15. Depending on the field of application theelectrical wires 20 can run continuously into the pigtail subassemblies15. Alternatively or in addition the electrical wires 20 can be splicedwithin the breakout enclosure 16, e.g. a shrink boot is fitted over thesealed splice/crimp area. The crimped, sealed, radio lead sections arefed through four small cable glands 12 of respective small cable nuts 13which extend from the closed end of the top portion 10 of the breakoutenclosure (can) 16. If appropriate the respective radio leads 14 areshrink sealed and color coded and interfaces with the power feederpigtail subassembly 15, which are fitted with respective connectordevices 20 to enable plug and play connectivity.

If appropriate, instead of connecting the connector devices 20 directlyto thereto assigned RRHs for power supply, the connector devices 20 canbe designed as standardized interfaces which are foreseen to beinterconnected indirectly via a specific interface cable or connectingdevice adapted to the specific RRHs or devices. Therefore complete andstandardized factory assembly of the cable breakout assembly 100according to the present invention becomes even more simplified.

As it can be seen the number of optical fibers 21 corresponds to thenumber of optical connectors 19 attached to the optical feeder pigtailsubassemblies 22. Each optical connector 19 is foreseen to beinterconnected directly or indirectly to an associated RRH (not shown indetail) or another device. In a preferred embodiment the optical fibers21 are not spliced (spliceless arrangement). Instead the feederconductor cable 1 comprises at least one ductwork (first empty conduit)23 which ends in the shown embodiment inside of the breakout enclosure16. The ductwork 23 is foreseen to receive one or several optical fibers21. Preferably the optical fibers 21 are displaceable with respect tothe ductwork 23 in length direction such that the optical fibers 21 canbe inserted at a later stage if necessary. If appropriate for eachoptical fibre 32 an individual ductwork 23 can be foreseen. If requiredthe individual ductworks 23 can be spliced or continuously run into theoptical feeder pigtail subassemblies 22. Thereby it is not necessary tosplice the optical fibers 21. A further advantage is that the length andposition of the optical fibers 21 arranged within the ductwork 23 can beadjusted after the device has been assembled. As it can be seen in FIG.8 in the shown embodiment the feeder cable 1, the power feeder pigtailsubassemblies 15 and the optical feeder pigtail subassemblies 22 arearranged at a distance a with respect to each other.

As best visible in FIG. 11 the shown embodiment the ductwork 23 ends ina secondary breakout structure 24 for the optical fibers 21. In FIG. 11the invisible lines are shown in a dashed manner. The secondary breakoutstructure 24 is attached to one end of the breakout housing 16. Thesecondary breakout structure 24 comprises a splice puck housing 25 inwhich the ductwork 23 from the feeder cable 1 ends on the inner side.The splice puck housing 25 reaches through an opening of the top portion10 of the breakout enclosure 16. On its inner end the splice puckhousing 25 comprises an inner gland 26 to which the ductwork 23 isattached. The splice puck housing 25 encompasses a cavity 28 in whichthe ductwork 23 ends. At the opposite end of the cavity 28 an outergland 27 is arranged to which here four second empty conduits (smallerempty conduits) 29 are attached. In the shown embodiment the ductwork(first empty conduit) 23 and the smaller conduits 29 are attached to thesplice puck housing 25 by a casting compound 30. Other methods to attachthe empty conduits 23, 29 to the splice puck housing 25 are possible.

In the shown embodiment the first empty conduit 23 is foreseen toreceive four optical fibers 21 which are led into the cavity 26. In thecavity 26 the optical fibers 21 are separated and each guided into oneof the smaller empty conduits 29. The separated fibers are then guidedto the optical connectors 19 arranged at the distal end of the smallerempty conduits 29.

The splice puck housing 25 of the shown embodiment acts as cable glandfor the optical fibers 21 with respect to the breakout enclosure 16. Ifappropriate the splice puck housing 25 can be arranged within thebreakout enclosure 16 and the smaller empty conduits 29 can be guidedacross the splice puck housing 25 by additional cable glands (notshown).

Depending on the field of application the optical fibers 21 can bespliced alternatively or in addition. If appropriate at least oneoptical connector can be arranged at the inside of the breakoutenclosure 16 to interconnect two optical fibers. However these solutionsare disadvantageous with respect to the above described splicelesssolution.

The breakout enclosure 16 of the shown embodiment comprises an ingeneral cylindrical bottom portion 4 which is arranged concentric alonga first axis 31 to and sealing up with the in general cylindrical topportion 10 as described above. A second axis of the first cable gland 2for the feeder cable 1 is arranged parallel to the third axis 33 of asecond cable gland 12 and a fourth axis 34 of the splice puck housing 25(or the additional cable glands for the empty conduits 29). By thisarrangement negative bending especially of the optical fibers 21 can beavoided. In a preferred embodiment the third and the fourth axis 33, 34of the at least one second cable gland 12 and the at least one splicepuck housing 25 (or the additional cable glands for the optical fibers21) are arranged in general parallel with respect to the first axis 31of the splice puck housing 25. However, as long as the bending of theoptical fibre has not negative impact the first, the second and thefourth axis can be arranged at an angle with respect to each other. Forexample, depending on the field of application, an angle in the range of0° to 90° is possible. This can be achieved when the second cable gland12 and/or the secondary breakout structure 24 are arranged at aninclined section of the breakout enclosure 16.

With respect to the second axis more flexibility is given, because theelectrical conductors are less sensitive regarding bending. For example,the second axis of the radio leads 14 can be arranged at an angle of180° emerging from the breakout enclosure 16 next the first cable gland2. Depending on the field of application at least the third and thefourth axis 33, 34 are arranged within a radius of 15 cm with respect tothe first axis 31.

In the shown embodiment at the pigtail sided end of the breakoutenclosure 16, a fastening eye 42 is attached which is for installationand/or transportation use. For example, it is possible to lift the cablebreakout assembly 100 by attaching rope (not shown in detail) to thefastening eye 42.

FIG. 12 shows a further embodiment of the hybrid cable breakout assembly100 according to the present invention. The general setup is similar tothe cable breakout assembly according to FIGS. 8-11. With respect to thegeneral explanations it is therefore referred to these Figs. The cablebreakout assembly 100 comprises a different type of breakout enclosure16 with a U-shaped frame 40 to which the first and second cable glands2, 12 and the secondary breakout structure 24 are attached formechanical stability. The inside of the frame 40 is filled with acasting resin 41 which encases and protects the electrical conductors 20and their splices (not shown in detail). The casting resin 41 is shownin a partially cut manner, such that the encased electrical conductorsand ductworks 23 of the optical fibers 21 are visible. If appropriatethe large and the small cable glands 2, 12 can be made of castedmaterial.

FIGS. 13 and 14 are showing different embodiments of cable breakoutassemblies 100 according to the present invention. The cable breakoutassemblies 100 have a hybrid setup with electrical and opticalconnectors 18, 19. The cable breakout assemblies 100 are normallymanufactured with standardized lengths. As shown in FIG. 14, thestandardized lengths (“x” meters) of the feeder cable 1 is, for example,30, 60 or 90 Meters (m). Depending on the field of application, otherdimensions are possible. At the front end, the feeder cable 1 ends inthe breakout enclosure 16. At the rear end, the optical fibers 21 end instandardized rear optical connectors 35 (e.g. LC-Connectors). The rearend of the feeder cable 1, include the assembled rear optical connectors35 and the electrical conductors 20 (not shown in FIG. 15) can beprotected by a pulling tube 36 which is put over the rear end andaffixed to a base entry cable gland 37 attached to the cable sheet 17 ofthe feeding cable 1. The cable breakout assembly 100 is preferably madein several configurations, e.g. with three, four or six optical feederpigtail subassemblies 22 and a corresponding number of power feederpigtail subassemblies 15. Depending on the field of application, othernumbers are possible.

In addition to the above, the tables and diagrams following the abstractare furnished herewith to provide further data regarding specifictechnical details and beneficial attributes of the various componentsassociated with the present invention, which constitutes part of theoriginal disclosure and which can be used to support futurespecification descriptions and claims, if necessary. One skilled in theart should appreciate that modifications could be made with respect tothe specific examples of the present invention described above withoutdeparting from the scope and objects thereof.

LIST OF DESIGNATIONS

-   a Distance between feeder cable and pigtail subassemblies    (x-Direction)-   1 Feeder conductor wire/conductor cable/feeder cable-   2 Large cable gland/first cable gland-   3 Large cable nut/cable nut-   4 Bottom portion (Breakout enclosure)-   5-9 Splice, Crimpe, Shrink Tube-   10 Top portion (Breakout enclosure)-   11 Shrink Boot-   12 Small cable gland (second cable gland)-   13 Small cable nut-   14 Radio Lead-   15 Power feeder pigtail subassembly-   16 Breakout enclosure (can)-   17 Cable sheath (feeding cable)-   18 Electrical connector-   19 Optical connector-   20 Electrical conductor-   21 Glass fibre/Optical fibre-   22 Optical feeder pigtail subassembly-   23 Ductwork/first empty conduit-   24 Secondary breakout structure-   25 Splice puck housing-   26 Inner gland-   27 Outer gland-   28 Cavity-   29 Second empty conduits/Smaller Empty Conduit-   30 Casting compound-   31 First axis (breakout enclosure)-   32 Second axis (of first cable gland)-   33 Third axis (of second cable gland)-   34 Fourth axis (of splice puck housing)-   35 Rear optical connector-   36 Pulling tube-   37 Base entry cable gland-   40 Frame-   41 Casting resin-   42 Fastening eye-   100 Cable breakout assembly-   200 Splice puck-   201 Input end-   202 Central conduit portion-   203 Breakout end-   204 Cable nut-   205 Multi-port cable gland-   206 Flexible conduits

The invention claimed is:
 1. A cable breakout assembly comprising abreakout enclosure having a first end and a second end, the breakoutenclosure forming an environmentally sealed container; a feeder cableattached to the first end of the breakout enclosure and extending in afirst direction outside the breakout enclosure away from the first endof the breakout enclosure, the feeder cable having a hybridconfiguration comprising electrical wires and optical fibers andcomprising at least one first conduit adapted to receive at least oneoptical fiber, the at least one first conduit ending in a secondarybreakout structure in which at least one second conduit ends, whereinthe end of the at least one second conduit is arranged opposite to theend of the at least one first conduit; at least two power feeder pigtailsubassemblies attached to the second end of the breakout enclosure andextending in a second direction outside the breakout enclosure away fromthe second end of the breakout enclosure, wherein the terminal end ofeach of the at least two power feeder pigtail subassemblies (i) has anelectrical connector configured to be interconnected to a remote radiohead or (ii) is configured to be hard wired to a remote radio head; andat least one optical feeder pigtail subassembly attached to the secondend of the breakout enclosure and extending in the second direction awayfrom the second end of the breakout enclosure.
 2. The cable breakoutassembly according to claim 1, wherein the first and the second end ofthe breakout enclosure are arranged opposite at a distance to eachother.
 3. The cable breakout assembly according to claim 1, wherein afirst axis of the feeder cable and a second axis of at least one of thepower feeder pigtail subassemblies are arranged parallel to each other.4. The cable breakout assembly according to claim 3, wherein a distancebetween the first axis and the second axis is within the range of 0 to20 centimeter.
 5. The cable breakout assembly according to claim 1,wherein the number of optical feeder pigtail subassemblies correspondsto the number of power feeder pigtail assemblies.
 6. The cable breakoutassembly according to claim 1, wherein the feeder cable comprises atleast one conduit which ends at an optical connector of an opticalpigtail subassembly.
 7. The cable breakout assembly according to claim1, wherein the breakout enclosure comprises a bottom part and a top partwhich are interconnected to each other.
 8. The cable breakout assemblyaccording to claim 7, wherein the bottom and the top part arecylindrical and interconnected to each other by a thread.
 9. The cablebreakout assembly according to claim 1, wherein the breakout enclosurecomprises a U-shaped bottom part to which the feeder cable and the atleast one pigtail assembly is attached.
 10. The cable breakout assemblyaccording to claim 1, wherein the breakout enclosure is at leastpartially filled with a casting resin.